Book Image

Microsoft Windows Azure Development Cookbook

By : Neil Mackenzie
Book Image

Microsoft Windows Azure Development Cookbook

By: Neil Mackenzie

Overview of this book

The Windows Azure platform is Microsoft's Platform-as-a-Service environment for hosting services and data in the cloud. It provides developers with on-demand computing, storage, and service connectivity capabilities that facilitate the hosting of highly scalable services in Windows Azure datacenters across the globe. This practical cookbook will show you advanced development techniques for building highly scalable cloud-based services using the Windows Azure platform. It contains over 80 practical, task-based, and immediately usable recipes covering a wide range of advanced development techniques for building highly scalable services to solve particular problems/scenarios when developing these services on the Windows Azure platform. Packed with reusable, real-world recipes, the book starts by explaining the various access control mechanisms used in the Windows Azure platform. Next you will see the advanced features of Windows Azure Blob storage, Windows Azure Table storage, and Windows Azure Queues. The book then dives deep into topics such as developing Windows Azure hosted services, using Windows Azure Diagnostics, managing hosted services with the Service Management API, using SQL Azure and the Windows Azure AppFabric Service Bus. You will see how to use several of the latest features such as VM roles, Windows Azure Connect, startup tasks, and the Windows Azure AppFabric Caching Service.
Table of Contents (16 chapters)
Microsoft Windows Azure Development Cookbook
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Index

Deploying an application into a hosted service


An application is deployed into a Windows Azure hosted service to provide its features and functionality. The deployment comprises the package containing the code to be deployed into the instances of the roles in the application, as well as the service configuration file specifying the configuration for the application. Each deployment is into either the production or staging slot of the hosted service. The result of a deployment is the creation of all the roles and instances specified in the service configuration file. By default, these instances are initially in the stopped state.

The Windows Azure Service Management REST API exposes a create deployment operation. The REST endpoint for the create deployment operation specifies the subscription ID, the name of the hosted service, and the deployment slot into which the application is to be deployed. The operation requires a payload comprising an XML document specifying the Windows Azure blob...